The Turning Point Sam Hughes Led Louisiana Tech In A Heartbreaking Loss To Auburn, Then Used That As Momentum For The Remainder Of His Season.

December 6, 1990|By ROBES PATTON, Staff Writer

For Sam Hughes, Louisiana Tech`s visit to Auburn was a dream come true with a nightmare ending.

Hughes hadn`t played much all season, but when Tech needed a spark in its sixth game of the season Oct. 6 at Auburn, the Bulldog coaches went with the sophomore backup from Lantana.

Hughes

``I felt real confident,`` Hughes said. ``Sometimes you feel you`re going to have a great day. It was one of those days where you`re pretty unconscious.``

Against the fifth-ranked Tigers in front of 72,350 vociferous fans at Jordan- Hare Stadium, Hughes completed 5 of 7 second-half passes for 66 yards, including a 24-yard touchdown toss to Bobby Slaughter that gave the Bulldogs a 14-13 lead with 5:50 to play.

Then the nightmare.

Auburn quarterback Stan White led the Tigers 74 yards on 12 plays in just over two minutes to set up a 30-yard, game-winning field goal by Jim Von Wyl. The Tigers won 16-14; Hughes and Tech`s offense never got back in the game.

``I was real disappointed because it seemed like a dream come true to upset fifth-ranked Auburn in front of their home crowd, coming off the bench and leading the team to victory,`` Hughes said in a recent interview from Ruston, La. ``But that all crashed down and it hurt pretty bad.

``I just wish we could`ve gone back in. We left the field with the lead and never got a chance to get back on.``

After the Auburn game, Hughes continued to play well while alternating with junior Gene Johnson. For the season, he completed 35 of 60 attempts for 484 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions.

So he`s had some moments to help erase the Auburn memory. But that afternoon in southeastern Alabama lingers.

``I think about it every day,`` Hughes said.

Oh, he thinks about the other games as well. Since the loss at Auburn, the Bulldogs won five straight, finishing 8-3 in their second season since returning to Division I-A and earning a berth opposite Maryland in the Independence Bowl Dec. 15 in Shreveport, La.

``But we don`t get the national exposure like we did then,`` Hughes said.

It may not be long, however, before Hughes is attracting plenty of attention. He was 6 feet 2, 185 pounds when he graduated from Santaluces. He`s now a major-league 6-4, 225 and has improved his speed in the 40-yard dash from 5.2 to 4.7.

``Sam`s going to end up being a real good quarterback before he leaves here,`` Tech offensive coordinator and quarterback coach Steve Ensminger said. ``He`s gotten better and better and that`s why he`s playing more.``

Hughes, who started the season as a backup, period, was splitting time evenly with Johnson at the end of the season.

Sam`s father, Gary, is the Lantana-based director of scouting for the Montreal Expos and makes a living evaluating talented young athletes. As the father of one, he`s admittedly biased. ``I`m not as critical as I would be on the job, but I am critical,`` Gary Hughes said.

At games, however, ``I`m not so much a fan as a father. I get pretty darned excited.``

His professional evaluation?

``The one thing I always saw in Sam was unlimited potential,`` Gary said. Others may not have been impressed because Sam wasn`t an imposing physical presence in high school, but ``I knew he would grow and I knew he had great leadership qualities,`` Gary said. ``I saw things I don`t think he even saw.``

Now, others have noticed that potential. The Tulsa TV announcers mentioned Hughes and former Tech great Terry Bradshaw in the same sentence during the broadcast of the Bulldogs` 35-21 victory at Tulsa.

``Sam`s the type of kid who was born to be a quarterback,`` Ensminger said. ``He`s not a great athlete, but he`s going to be a great quarterback. His biggest quality is leadership ability and our kids respond to him when he`s in the ballgame.``